Sheffield man found guilty of sexually assaulting and biting police officer while naked from waist down

A Sheffield man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and biting a police officer who was called to his property, after he began damaging vehicles in the street while naked from the waist down.

It took the jury of six men and six women just two hours to find Luca Jelic, 29, guilty of a string of offences including sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm today.

Judge David Dixon adjourned the case until November 15 for sentence.

The police officer he assaulted gave evidence last week, and described how Jelic began groping her while she and her colleague were on the floor, attempting to restrain him outside a block of flats in Scotland Street, Sheffield city centre.

The police officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and her colleague attended the scene after the force received reports of Jelic damaging a Ford Transit van.

He was naked from the waist down, and brandishing a ‘for sale’ sign, when the two officers arrived, the court heard.

“I couldn’t get his hands off me,” said the woman, adding: “It felt like he was trying to penetrate me through his trousers. Both of us were trying to get his hands away.

“As soon as I would get one of his hands off my crotch area, the other one would replace it. He continued that behaviour for what felt like a long time.”

“He made sexual comments throughout the incident,” she continued.

The officer told the court that Jelic bit her leg during the altercation. She subsequently used CS gas on him and pulled his shirt over his head as she and her colleague continued to try and restrain him.

The other officer involved in the altercation also gave evidence, and told the court how when they arrived at the scene and began to approach Jelic he shouted something along the lines of: “Lovely girls for me to rape. I love sex.”

Jelic, of Scotland Street, Sheffield city centre, was finally handcuffed and arrested after more police officers were sent to the scene.

He declined to give evidence, but jurors learned, through a transcript of his police interview read out in court, how he had drunk heavily and snorted MDMA, prior to the incident taking place in the early hours of April 27 this year.

Despite entering guilty pleas to all charges, the court heard how Jelic admitted biting and sexually assaulting the police officer when he was interviewed by South Yorkshire police 13 hours after the offending.

He also repeatedly said he was receiving ‘commands’ and ‘instructions’ through radio messages which resulted in a form of ‘mind control’; adding that the conscious part of his mind was trying to fight the instructions.

“These messages were making me do it...that’s not the true me. In my head, it was very traumatic for me to do that to another person. I remember doing that, grabbing her by her...genital area,” said Jelic.

Jelic was found guilty of one count of sexual assault; one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm; one count of possession of a class A drug and three counts of criminal damage.